President Barack Obama today shrugged off
Ayatollah Khamenei’s new threat against Israel that Iran would raze Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground if attacked. Obama, on a visit in Jordan,
told reporters in a joint press conference with King Abdullah II that Iran could transform
its future if it stood down its nuclear program.
Obama said if sanctions were lifted, Iran could build thriving businesses, and expand commerce and travel interactions with the rest of the world, including the United States.
“That should be the vision, not threats to raze Israeli cities to the ground,” Obama said. (Reuters, 23 March)
Photo credit: President Barack Obama and King Abdullah II of Jordan in a press conference in Amman. 23 March 2013 (mysanantonio.com)
Obama said if sanctions were lifted, Iran could build thriving businesses, and expand commerce and travel interactions with the rest of the world, including the United States.
“That should be the vision, not threats to raze Israeli cities to the ground,” Obama said. (Reuters, 23 March)
Photo credit: President Barack Obama and King Abdullah II of Jordan in a press conference in Amman. 23 March 2013 (mysanantonio.com)
31 comments:
The most doubtful question here is; if the well-known world's most evil nation on earth, Israel, could, why can't IRAN? Is this the world's application of the so-called U.S.-designed democracy?
Obama's "all options are on the table" is a first strike threat. Khamenei's second strike response, then, is characterized as a "threat"? Actually, it's intent is deterrence.
Ah, if only Obama were more like Nixon in this regard, and had the vision to pursue rapprochement with Iran. But instead all we get is the same counterproductive and expensive pursuit of hegemony.
The use of phrase “all options are on the table” used by US presidents have always been in the context of an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities if Iran chooses to build the bomb. You might disagree with the policy, but Obama, nor the Israelis for that matter, have ever threatened to annihilate major population centers in Iran. Khamenei’s threat to raze Tel Aviv and Haifa if attacked by Israel is not proportional and is probably meant to raise the stakes in any military conflict.
On credibility and motives: U.S. threat against Iran’s nuclear facilities could be believed. But the credibility of Khamenei’s threat to raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground is questionable. The Iranian Air Force is unable to reach those cities and destroy them. Iranian missile forces are not large enough to raze those cities with conventional warheads. Why then the threat? A meaningless hyperbole? Probably so. But using such language in that context is highly irresponsible. The Ayatollah in a Nowruz message saying he’s able and willing to order the destruction of Tel Aviv and Haifa if Iran’s nuclear facilities are attacked by Israel, which would mean the death of millions of Israeli civilians, is beyond irresponsible. Someone should edit his speeches.
But if the Ayatollah meant the threat to be credible, what does that mean? That Iran already has access to nuclear warheads? Is this the way he wanted to announce it or hint at it? Hard to say. I still believe he didn’t understand what he was saying.
By the way, why Haifa? Where did that come from? That’s a city with the strongest anti-war movement. Is Khamenei OK?
Mr Pyrus strategy is to say that if USA does X why should not Iran do X also ? So Iran is trying to imitate USA while saying what USA does is bad at the same time (lol) ! Like they say no foreign power should intervende in Syria (lol) ! What kind of 'independence' is it that you end up being a monkey mimicking the (the empty image of the) other ?
Pyruz, if I say that if you keep putting your nonsense fanboy comments up, I'm going to attack all the members of your family...... my aim is deterrence.
and I would still be a dirty, disgusting person for having made such a threat.
there is NO defense for that disgusting threat from that vile old fool Khamanei.
sure iran can off the nuclear progrm, and develope business
sell oil and import everything else.
a country like saudi arabia
that want the westen from us
f.ck USA
I have red a statement by an resident of "israel" who says, that close to 90% of people who call themselves "jews" are not jews, because their ancestors were never born on the teritories they claim now.
According to his reaserch, most of them (self proclaimed jews) had some ancestors, who somehow, at some point, converted themselves to a kind of the Judaism in Khazarian Empire (in Asia)... and later their grandgrand children, greatly contributed to the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and affected events in other places.
Mark's 1:28PM comment makes precisely final conclussions about the issue, who is responsible for the inflamation and for the solution to the situation.
A-F
Anonymous 6:57pm, what country do you reside in?
Z
not in usa
AnonymousMarch 23, 2013 at 5:57 PM
You would be quite justified in doing that if he had repeatedly threatened you and yours as the americans and israelis have done to iran ,in fact they have done more than just threaten as the record of dead scientists and support for terror groups clearly shows.What Khamenei is making clear is that in the event of any attack on iran the iranians will retaliate very heavily and seek to cause the maximum number of casualties this will not be a tit-for-tat you destroy natanz and we destroy dimona deal as the israelis can afford the loss of dimona as they already have a nuclear arsenal,what the iranians appear to be saying is that in the event of an israeli counterforce strike they will react with a countervalue strike.This was also a good time to deliver the threat when barack and bibi were knoodling together and making clear that no options were off the table concerning iran
Your casual call for annihilation of Tel Aviv and Haifa and mass murder of millions of civilian Israelis is what the Iranian leaders needs to avoid, and stop Khamenei from making speeches like that. This is the language that Israeli right wants to hear. Isn’t it amazing how the Israeli right and the rightwing Iranians, or pro-Iranian government in this case, are the same and how much they need each other to justify their vicious pronouncements?
The recent comments by Sayyed Ali Khamenei were an obvious statement of FACT and CONSEQUENCE. For almost 20 years now the little Zionist bratty entity living off the deadbeat US taxpayer has been threatening Iran almost daily and trying to goad a bankrupt US into a swan song war. Most of the mature and rational people know full well that barely 5 million hated Zionists living a parasitic existence on stolen Palestine simply do not have the strategic depth or mass to engage in an all out war against vastly superior Iran. Even if the puny Zionists could launch a few insignificant air attacks against a few Iranian nuke sites (there are officially over 120 Iranian nukes sites), the retaliation would be fierce and would lay waste to Zionist hovels and most Zionists holding dual passports will flee in a nano-second. THERE IS ZERO CHANCE OF ANY "ATTACK" by the Zionist pip-squeaks or an imploding US against Iran. It is good that Sayyed Ali Khamenei who normally does not engage in hyperbole has stated the obvious and hopefully Obama has taken heed and cautioned the Zionists against idiocy. US standing in the Arab and Muslim world is at the lowest and US economy is in tatters, so it best for Nothing Yahoo to drink cool aid and sulk. Obama's failed trip to Occupied Palestine is a good harbinger of US global misfortune.
failed trip?????
you poor, poor ignorant dupe.
that trip sealed the fate of the Assads and it means that your Lebanese Hezzie buddies are in for some rough times.
the idiot Khamanei has lead Iran into a position of isolation and his threats are hollow and are going to be repeated ....right up until he signs the paper that Obama and Co. are going to put in front of him.
Statement of fact? How do you think he could raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground? Iranian Air Force planes? Iranian missiles armed with conventional warheads? Or nukes? Do you know something we don't?
And what would you do? stay silent?,play-tit-for-tat?,it is very naive for an agressor to assume that the victim will play by the aggressors rules,if the aggressor started it he must be prepared for whatever he gets,its a bit like assuming that if you pick a fight with someone he wont kick you in the testicles because according to your world view thats dishonorable because thats below the belt,the israelis have shown that they have little concern for civilian casualties and have targeted civilians both directly and indirectly as we saw in lebanon and gaza,we saw the americans do the same things in iraq with both bombs and sanctions,who could forget madeline albrights chilling" we think the price is worth it" when asked about the then "only" 50,000 dead from disease and hunger brought about by sanctions and bombs.As for the israeli and us right wings who cares iran is not playing to them,let them instead ponder whether this is just the fiery rhetoric intended for local consumption or a clear declaration of intent for us/israeli consumption
I guess some of the commentators here are posting comments without regard to or even without reading the actual post. The subject was Obama’s reaction to Khamenei’s remarks during a Nowruz speech that if Israel attacks Iran, then Iran would “raze Tel Aviv and Haifa into ground.” Israel or U.S. attacking Iran was always threatened in the context of Iranian nuclear facilities and was understood to mean attacks on those facilities. But Khamenei’s threat goes beyond that: razing two major population centers that would mean mass killings of millions of Israeli civilians.
Two main questions were raised during the discussions:
1) Retaliating against and attack on nuclear facilities by razing two major population centers, killing millions of Israeli civilian, does not seem to be proportional and even saying that, by a leader of a country, is irresponsible.
2) The threat is not even credible. The Iranian Air Force cannot reach or destroy those cities. The Iranian Missile Forces is not large enough to destroy those cities with conventional warheads. Then the question was, does Iran already has nuclear warheads?
Please stay with the discussion. I know slogans are important for some of you, but at least stay with the conversation and add some slogans as well!
Interesting, you object to killing of civilians in Iraq but still continue supporting Khamenei's unfortunate threat of destroying Tel Aviv and Haifa and killing millions of Israeli civilians there. Are you OK? I hope, and I believe, Khamenei said those words out of anger and as meaningless hyperbole. Because if he was really threatening to destroy those cities, he must have been saying that Iran already has access to nuclear warheads which he regards as forbidden. And you don't need to go out on the limb and try to theorize and find justifications for destroying tow major population centers!
Khamenei knows that he has no place in a civilized world - that is the reason for his violent rejection of it - bottom line ...
I neither condemn nor approve,as a military strategy it has its good points and its bad points as do all strategies,it seems silly to rule one out because your enemy who has done similar things to others might not like having it done to himself or because you fear that would then make you as bad as them,personally I think iran has shown far too much restraint in the face of continuous threats and attacks against it,I`m glad to see that they are now speaking out,if the us/israel do not like these remarks/threats then perhaps they should publicly take the military options off the table.As for iran having nuclear weapons I would tend to doubt this for a variety of very good reasons tho` if they did this would be exactly the sort of strategy iran and israel would pursue as part of a mad based deterrence
Junior settle down, neither President Assad is going anywhere, nor the little Zionist parasitic flea infested pups are going to attack Iran. The US is a deadbeat basketcase and is not about to engage in a swan song war either. The problem is that FOX/CNN braindead imbeciles have been predicting the end of Iran since 1979 while the US has turned into a global begging bowl indebted to China. Pay attention to global trends and take your head out of the proverbial.LOL.
I agree with Mr. Pyruz here in identifying the intent. I think it is perhaps not the best way to think that Khamenei is out of his mind and cannot think of what we can. He has ruled a country under most crippling pressure from the west for the past almost quarter of a century. Instead of thinking he is illogical and has gone insane, one should try to figure out what the rationale behind such a remark could be. It is unwise to undermine him, even if we disagree with him.
You tend to doubt Iran has access to nuclear warheads, which is quite possibly true. But then how do you suppose Khamenei wants to raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground? Or was that an empty hyperbole as well?
Khamenei should not be underestimated, hence the importance of this discussion. What did he have in mind? Does he believe he can raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground? How? Or this was just one of those sloganeering performances?
@ anonymous 6:57, if not the USA then where?
90 days or less before Syria is rid of all the Assads or has imprisoned or buried the bunch of them.
" The problem is that FOX/CNN braindead imbeciles have been predicting the end of Iran since 1979 ..."
neither CNN nor FOX said a single thing about Iran in 1979, as neither of them existed in 79, perhaps you're the one sounding a bit braindead and quite imbecilic.
bray on, friend, maybe you'll get pulled out of the well in which you're stuck.
The ancestors of the mullahs are Arabians.In fact during Safavids all Shiite mullahs were imported from Lebanon,Syria,Iraq into Iran.These people consider themselves as Muslims and not Iranian and are supported by a small number of armed minions.
Sonny, get some new TV channels, the US/Zionist created Syrian "opposition" fell apart and its head resigned:
Syria opposition created by US and NATO in disarray as head resigns and the whole leadership lead by Ghassan Hitto as "prime minister," in in danger of total collapse under pressure from Syrian military, said FSA political and media coordinator Louay Muqdad. This is the biggest setback for the US and its allies and a testament to the resiliency of President Assad and Syrian military cohesion.
Mr. Uskowy you are concerned about "millions" in israel and you consider all Iranian top leaders as an irresponsible ones, but previously you have been afraid to express your position about the Iranian PG islands.
You aren't apparently concerned that sponsors of your residence killed innocents people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as that in Vietnam they used napalm and chemicals as the orange agents...
Today US veterans have filled claims due to "their exposures" to that "orange agents" (defoliants).
It was OK to the West, when S.Hussein used chemical weapons during the war with Iran.
Find a photo where Donald Rumsfeld shakes hands with S. Hussein.
Since YOU and your Western and israeli sponsors do not respect the Supreme Leader words that "the usage (using) and production of nuclear weapons is a sin" then YOU and your sponsor should not pay attention to His other words...because they are "not important and irresponsible", by your double standards.
I have impression that your double standards comments, look like a barking at Iran from behind of your sponsors' backs.
NoBama works for Khamenei, all real Americans know this. Israel is on its own, still the cowardly muslims are afraid to attack tiny Israel.
Yuri S.
I think the appropriate phrase here is "Sauce for the goose" or you reap what you sow..The americans and israelis have for a long time gone around threatening others and not expecting to be threatened in turn,iran is making it clear that threat will be met with threat and military action with military action under those circumstances it would be foolish for iran to rule out any strategy so long as the us and israel have all options on the table,iran also needs to have all options on the table and countervalue targeting is one of these options
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